Looking for a place to take the kids this weekend? Look no further than the action-packed rides and boundless fun of Sea School in Saint Petersburg.
Parking is plentiful, so visitors can feel free to bring their vehicles.

Treat your family to a whole park full of rides, games, and fun at North Shore Aquatic Complex in St Petersburg.
Check out the restaurant at this park for a delicious meal.
Families will feel right at home at this park with its kid-friendly atmosphere.
Parking is plentiful, so patrons can feel free to bring their vehicles.

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After 40 years of enchanting families and youngsters at its original location, Treasure Island Fun Center relocated its abundant arcade games and tasty treats to a recently renovated 16,000-square-foot facility in 2007. Kiddie rides and games occupy toddlers, and older kids and adults compete in billiards and air-hockey bouts or zip through virtual tracks in racing games. Rekindle flames with classic arcade fixtures such as pinball, Centipede, and Ms. Pac-Man, or vie for tickets by playing skeeball or haggling virtual-reality scalpers. Once accumulated, those tickets can be traded for one of the arcade’s many prizes such as toys, lava lamps, and digital cameras.
With pizza by the slice, chicken nuggets, and ice cream, the full-service snack bar known as Pegleg’s Pizza refuels guests between games. Through its charity, the Bob and Jean Noell Charitable Foundation, Treasure Island Fun Center also reenergizes the community, having donated more than $125,000 to schools and youth organizations thus far.

Looking for a place to take the kids this weekend? Look no further than the action-packed rides and boundless fun of Island Marine Rentals in Indian Shores.
Make the trip to this park even more savory with a visit to their fine restaurant.
Don't leave the kids at home — youngsters will love the family-friendly activities at this park just as much as mom and dad.
Parking is plentiful, so visitors can feel free to bring their vehicles.

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At X-Treme Challenge, youngsters don't just get a good workout—they constantly test their limits, achieving physical feats they never knew they could, all while having a blast.
Rather than pint-sized versions of adult workout classes, the gym packs its sessions with foam jousting, ropes courses, and American Gladiator–style events. For 6-year-olds, the gym's youngest clientele, classes are filled with simple activities that hone balance, motor skills, and social skills. For older kids, the going gets wackier. Teens, for instance, can experiment with vertical climbing, clamber indoor spider webs, and play games of human Jenga—all with a coach overseeing to make sure they're safe.

Groupon Guide

No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks! When summer arrives, little ones suddenly have nothing but free time on their hands. And one hot-weather ritual that helps drain their boundless energy is a day at the amusement park.Unfortunately, planning for a day at the amusement park can just as efficiently drain parents’ energy. To help put some amusement back into a day at the theme park, we first culled some advice from the ultimate experts: moms. To round out their tips, we turned to two employees of one of the best-known theme parks: Isabel, who drives the parking lot bus, and RJ, a theme park performer and co-host of the amusement-centric Disfunction Podcast. Based on their combined years in the trenches, they let us know what works and what doesn’t.“The first hour,” Isabel says, “is the best time to get on that one ride you just have to go on.” For parents of older kids who can stay up late, RJ recommends returning to the park a few hours before they close. “[Most] families have given up and already retreated to their resorts.” Take photos of where your car is, signs, including the view from behind you, as if you’re leaving the park.Isabel sighs, “I wish more people would do this!” RJ can empathize: one of his past theme park gigs was in the parking lot, and at every shuttle stop, he was required to repeat the section number over and over “and over.” As such, RJ wholeheartedly agrees with the recommendation, “Write it on your favorite child's forehead [if you have to].” All joking aside, charging the kids with remembering where the car is can help settle those end-of-the-day arguments over whether you parked in A12 or A13.“Agreed!” RJ’s packing list of just the essentials would include the following: a refillable water bottle for each person, sunscreen, bug spray, and a travel-size umbrella. Other additions might be extra clothing (including shoes and socks), towels, ponchos, sanitizing wipes, and plastic baggies to protect valuables. “And motion sickness bags,” smirks Isabel.The food at the park is usually fatty and expensive. Halfway through the day, “We . . . get our hand stamped, and go hang out in the car and eat. If I turn on the air my little guy will usually take a quick nap.”While this is certainly an option, at larger amusement parks this may take more time than it’s worth. RJ advises to research what’s available at the park before you go; they often have healthier options. An alternative: pack snacks. “You have something to nibble on while you wait in line.” “[You] can fit more, and then my other kids can either ride or my 2 year old can lay flat.” Sometimes he even naps in there! Another great idea, says RJ, but he kindly made one suggestion: “If you know you're gonna bring in a double-wide or a wheelbarrow to the parks, be mindful that you are going to a place where there will be hundreds, maybe thousands, of people around you [and] you're taking up a lot of room.” Patience and extra awareness is key. Isabel does caution families to call ahead: “Certain parks do not allow wagons as they are a trip hazard.”“When my kids were small,” counters Isabel, “I kept them on their schedules.” So try to fit a nap down when you can, even if it means taking a break and heading back to the resort or car. When it comes to the rides, says RJ, let your kids take the reins. “Don't feel pressured into doing something that you were told you must do if it’s not what your kids want to do.” If your eight-year-old wants to watch the show at the toddler park, that’s cool. “And if little Charlie wants to do the carousel again and again and again, then by all means do let him; the memory of Charlie crying in the car ride home could ruin all the other memories you made that day.”

“If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price.” This quote, attributable to Patrick Swayze’s character in the film Point Break, ran through my mind as I stood at the base of the tallest, steepest, fastest wooden roller coaster in the world in the middle of a thunderstorm. Cameras and lightning took turns flashing as Hank Salemi, the president of Six Flags Great America, stood before a group of onlookers who had come to conquer the theme park’s latest exercise in terror, Goliath. “Hopefully, the weather will hold off,” Salemi said, as the skies darkened further.
It’s not like Goliath needs severe weather to come off as scary. The new coaster with an Old Testament name already has this going for it: a 180-foot first drop, top speeds of 72 miles per hour, two breathtaking inversions, and a spiraling inverted zero-G stall. Throw in a little rain and Goliath starts to seem less like something you ride and more like something you survive. As this video proves, we did just fine:
But now that we’ve conquered Goliath, the question becomes: what other extreme coasters does America have on tap for 2014? Here are five of the biggest and baddest, ranked on our newly conceived scale of “Goliath-Slaying Slingshots to the Gut.”
Goliath, in case you were wondering, ranks in at a perfect 10.
Banshee
King’s Island | Mason, OH
The world’s longest inverted roller coaster is also the first to be named after a mythological omen of death. Perhaps this is merely a coincidence. In any case, you’ll have plenty of time to ponder mortality as you whip across seven inversions and a record-breaking 4,124 feet of track.
Number of Goliath-Slaying Slingshots to the Gut: 9/10
Lightning Run
Kentucky Kingdom | Louisville, KY
A coaster with the force of a meteorological event, Lightning Run is the kind of thing you might wish on an inaccurate weatherman. The 10-story steel coaster starts off with a 100-foot drop that’s just a few degrees away from vertical. Coincidentally, 100 is also the number of valerian-root supplements you’ll need to calm down after this one.
Number of Goliath-Slaying Slingshots to the Gut: 6/10
El Loco
The Adventuredome at Circus Circus | Las Vegas, NV
An indoor coaster with sudden turns, over-the-edge twists, and a 90-degree drop, El Loco's least terrifying attribute is something called a "donut roll," which sounds delicious (but is probably still terrifying).
Number of Goliath-Slaying Slingshots to the Gut: 7/10
Firechaser Express
Dollywood | Pigeon Forge, TN
This dual-launch and backward-running family coaster may not be the most thrilling on our list, but its twists and turns will still have you hitting high notes like Dolly on “Jolene.”
Number of Goliath-Slaying Slingshots to the Gut: 3/10
The Thunderbolt
Luna Park | Coney Island, NY
Alvy Singer’s childhood home may be a thing of the past, but children are still developing nervous personalities in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. The latest culprit is Luna Park’s Thunderbolt, the first custom-built roller coaster in Coney Island since 1927. Stretching 125 feet into the air, The Thunderbolt has it all: loops, drops, and a spiraling view of the New York skyline.
Number of Goliath-Slaying Slingshots to the Gut: 8/10
Finished sobbing in fear? Check out Groupon for deals on amusement parks in your city.